Small Town Girl
by AnnaBrinana
Summary: Elizabeth Bennet is just finishing her first year of college and she decides to keep a journal to help her stay sane as she navigates the world of an adult. Things get a bit more complicated when a matchmaking mother pokes her nose into her life. Then of course going to school in Utah with its low average marriage age is another thing entirely. (Some religious content)
1. Chapter 1: May 19

May 19, 2013

Today, May 19, 2013, I, Elizabeth Bennet, have reached the age of 19. What do I have to show for my life thus far? I believe that I have achieved some things of significance. I still have much room for improvement; however, I have not royally screwed my life up. Yet! I decide that I would start this journal in the interest of keeping myself sane. You see, from my point of view, my life has meaning and several of my goals have been reached, but there are others that do not see it that way. At All!

As I am about to record many stories about the following individuals, It seems pertinent to me that I actually explain who a few of the principle players are going to be.

Jane Bennet: My loving, happy, gorgeous older cousin (And I actually mean all these complements sincerely)

Mary Bennet: My somewhat pessimistic younger sister (and "lucky" for me she got all the looks in the family)

Lydia & Kitty Phillips: The twin terror cousins

Mother: obviously my dearest mother (with just a hint of sarcasm)

Father: Once again no-brainer (I am his favorite though and I think he is mine)

Aunty Helen Phillips: My mother's twin and the mother of Lydia and Kitty

Aunt Sara Gardiner-Bennet: My favorite aunt (She is the one who turned my into such a fine young lady I believe)

Now you have met all the principle players except one I believe.

Charlotte Lucas: My confidante and advisor and general best friend ever (we have been inseparable since … birth practically)

Now for a bit of background on my life so all my stories that will doubtlessly unfold will make sense.

Mother and Father both grew up in a small town in Idaho. Yes, the state famous for the potatoes. (insert eye roll) Don't get me wrong I think Idaho is great, but the thing about it is people there are very, VERY attached to their roots. I mean nobody ever moves away and half the town is related to one person and the other half of the town is related to some other common ancestor. Anyway, the moral of the story is Father took over my granddad's farm and Mother simply moved across town. My entire extended family is within a 45 minute drive of my parents' house. Both my parents only had one sibling (lucky for me I suppose). That means that I spend plenty of time with my cousins. Father's brother's family is fine (I actually really love them), but Mother's Sister and that lot is … interesting (at best). All of my grandparents are living as well, so I have plenty of family.

Now that that picture has been sketched for the reader of this journal, (honestly that is probably just me) I will sketch out a basic profile of me and my life. I love school. Seriously, I love school. Learning is my passion. More or less, I have always been curious, I remember pestering my mother with the word "why" but I was not just trying to be annoying. Anyways, that all translates into me graduating from high school a year ago with a 4.0 GPA and then getting a full-ride scholarship for college. I am a very goal oriented person and that is what I set out to do when I started high school so I am proud to say, "I made it." I am currently working on my goal of double majoring in philosophy and education. Strange combo I know but it is what I want.

I think that is a fairly accurate representation of my background, I just ran out of time though, my bus just arrived so I will have to continue this little exercise latter.


	2. Chapter 2: May 20

May 20, 2013

So I decided to leave myself plenty of time because I have a lot to say today. Mostly I have to give an entire summary of my first year of college, because some of those details are extremely relevant to my current life. Also I don't really have very much to do because I am not taking summer classes and summer vacation started just a few weeks ago.

_Mini Life History Lesson _(That's what I am going to label my past experiences so it isn't as confusing)

On October 28, 2011 I got my acceptance letter from Utah State University. Yes I know that this is not the most prestigious school. I am aware that many people don't even know of its existence, but it has one of the best programs for elementary education in the United States (Ranked in the top 2%). But I get sidetracked. With my acceptance letter I got a scholarship offer. Utah State offered me a full-ride scholarship. FULL-RIDE! Sure it isn't that fantastic, but I don't need to worry about tuition money (a BIG deal in my family) and I don't need to worry about housing (as long as I live in their stinky little dorm Valley View Tower) and I don't need to worry about eating (As long as I can get by with 15 meals a week in the cafeteria). My life was set!

Now back from the past, I would like to note that this is an epic achievement. My family isn't in a position to help me out too much. Sure Father is a successful potato farmer, but I have 4 younger siblings still living at home. In addition, this drought we have been living through, not so good for plants. The moral of that whole story is I am living on my own paying for things on my own, and taking care of myself on my own. This is turning into a bit of a problem, because you see, my scholarship only covers in-state tuition after the first year. That means I am living in the beautiful Logan, Utah for the summer to become a Utah resident. It is pretty much the worst thing anyone could ever have to do. It is annoying to an extreme.

But life is actually pretty good considering that frustration. I mean, obviously I have ups and downs, (some horribly fantastic downs I might add) but I am doing great. Charlotte is rooming with me this summer and she insists that we are not "real" adults yet. Honestly, I sorta see her point, but come on how much more real can all this get! I have a job, I go grocery shopping, and I stock up on toilet paper. Those are all very adult things. (Admittedly, not everything has gone according to plan, but I just won't talk about the two toilet paper-less days)

Anyway, this is all fantastic and everything, but I probably seem like the most boring chick ever. To make it slightly more interesting (but only slightly) I guess I will right about my job. I am currently working as a part-time sales associate at Payless ShoeSource. Super exciting, right? It is the first job I have ever had (not counting all the jobs I had working for Father). I find that it is the most exciting thing that happens to me these days.

I think that this makes Mother rather depressed. You see, Mother was married in June after her first year of college and the fact that I have not even been on a date since I was a senior in high school disappoints her. Let it be known that, yes I am Mormon, and no I am not dedicating my life to finding the perfect husband.

On that topic, I must say I am slightly disappointed that I have not been on any dates, but seriously, I am not husband hunting. I went in for dental work in February and the dentist asked my major, after I told him he asked if getting my MRS. Degree was my first major. Everyone thinks they have us Mormon college girls figured out, but I am not having any of this. My response to the marriage mart of college single's wards is grit your teeth and get through it.

**Author's Note:**

**I am not going to shove religion down your throat but for the purpose of this story my characters needed to be Mormon. If you need help understanding any of the terminology I use Message me or if you want to know more you could check out . I will try to limit random references. and at the end of chapters define any terms I use.**

**Ward: the area of a town that is assigned to meet together for church meetings also the group of people in the ward  
Single's Ward: The ward especially for unmarried people in the church, Typically a young single adult ward (YSA) for people aged 18-30**


	3. Chapter 3: May 21

May 21, 2013

What a day! I finally met my neighbor. I was a little worried about spending the summer here in Logan because I was worried that I wouldn't make very many new friends. Obviously I should not have been concerned. Oh, and I don't believe I have mentioned, I am staying in Longbourn Apartments. My roommates for the summer are two of my dearest friends Jane and Charlotte. There are two other girls I don't really know, but they seem nice enough. Samantha Alcott is super nice and she is a friend of Jane's so I know we will get along. The other girl Amber (not sure of her last name) is nice enough, but she has a boyfriend and is gone all the time so I don't really know her.

Back to my original story, my neighbor, Charles Bingley, moved into Netherfield Apartments today. We saw that someone was moving in so Charlotte, Jane, and I decided to bake cookies and go meet them. This is typical of my experience with new neighbors in Idaho. Anyway we may have had ulterior motives because we suspected the neighbor would be male, but we are Mormon girls so what do you expect?

When we knocked on the door and offered him the cookies he seemed thrilled. I suppose that anyone is excited to see cookies, but he seems genuinely nice. I hope he is in our ward because I hate not knowing people and sitting by myself in the back of the chapel. (oops I keep going on tangents) He said he did not know many people staying in Logan for the summer so he was thrilled to meet us. He also mentioned having a couple of sisters in Logan, who knows where that will lead. We invited him to come to a little party we are having on Friday. Maybe he will come.

Later we were hanging out in our apartment when Charlotte's "NOT" boyfriend showed up. They really should just admit they like each other, but, oh well. Then we sat around and talked about our lame history with relationships. None of us are doing to hot and that is not acceptable.

_Mini Life History Lesson_

I have been taught since I was in primary that one of the most important goals for my life is finding the right person to marry. I have accepted that this is true, but some people have taken this notion a bit far. Mother and Aunty Helen (she insists on that name for some reason) seem convinced that I have forgotten my duty. Every time I visit home I hear the same story. "Look at your cousin Marissa, she just got married." "Who have you been dating?" "When are you going to find a husband?" I believe that they mean well for the most part, but seriously does a life of academic pursuits have no value?

Back to the present, I would like to note that I am a capable adult, but it seems that I lack some sort of man hunting skill. Truthfully, there was an incident. And believe me incident is the right term. I don't want to go into full detail right now because you see, this story makes me tired and it is already late. Tomorrow I promise to record the entire account of my dealing with a certain Collin McVey. Ugh even the name makes me shudder. I suppose that the entry for tomorrow might be a bit longer because I had quite the experience with that odious man.

On a brighter note, I decide that I would by myself a new pair of shoes for my birthday. I am going to have to go shopping and pick them out soon. I think I want some new cute sandals. Okay this sad attempt at distract myself from that man is not working. I am just going to go to bed and dream of Unicorns. Yep Unicorns that's a safe topic. Or maybe I will go watch a movie to distract myself. In fact, a night watching ridiculous romance movies and eating brownies seems like just the thing. I solemnly swear to give a complete account of Collin tomorrow though.

**Author's Note**

**A key Mormon Principle is Families hence the over anxiety about marriage**

**Primary: for children 4-12 while the adults are in meetings the children go learn about the church and sing songs etc.**


	4. Chapter 4: May 21 Continued

May 21, 2013 (continued)

Okay it is technically the 22nd already, but I couldn't go to bed until I had recorded the entire affair. It is actually a bit comical to the outsider I suppose, but that experience has left its scars on me forever. Hmm that seems a little dramatic, I can find the humor in this too, but It has definitely changed me in unexpected ways.

Shortly after Valentine's Day, I was sitting in the Institute building, and this man came and sat next to me. I was reading a book, but I could tell he was checking me out. I surreptitiously looked at him from around my book to see if he was worth any attention. The first thing I noticed about him was his graying hair (kinda a turn off to an eighteen year old). He was definitely not one of the younger college students. He was about 5' 10" if I had to guess and had dark hair (though it was obviously graying).

Eventually he struck up a conversation with me. Because I am polite enough to converse with pretty much everyone, I decided to humor him. We talked for about an hour about numerous subjects. He was an interesting enough fellow. Our main topics were religion and the sad state of the world. However throughout our long varied conversation, he said a number of odd things to me. For example, he made me promise that someday I would get married. He also told me that if he had known me on Valentine's Day he would have taken me out on a date. This was all made slightly more awkward by the fact that he informed me that he was legally blind.

As I was leaving he asked for my name and phone number. I gave both willingly (Now I regret that a bit). All day long the experience made me smile. (Perhaps because he kept implying that I was beautiful, and perhaps because it was just so odd and quite hilarious)

Later he texted me and I managed to learn his full name but he was not forthcoming about it. Collin McVey is a very interesting individual, I had to pry some answers from him but I finally learned that he didn't serve a mission and his toothbrush color was red. (Helpful stuff right?) At this point, I had reached the conclusion that he was a little distasteful but harmless.

I agreed to meet him again the next morning because I was curious about how old he was and what he thought he was doing. (I also heard Mother's advice to never lose the opportunity to spend time with a man repeating itself in my head.) I met him in the Institute again, but I only left myself 15 minutes to talk to him before I had to go to class because I figured that was long enough to answer questions without committing to anything.

We had another interesting conversation. Marriage as a general topic came up again (if I have learned one thing it is this, when a man brings up you marriage status in conversation it is headed nowhere good)! I was not getting any of the answers I wanted, so I invited him to sit with me and Jane at the Institute devotional. He agreed to meet us after we had lunch at the cafeteria. As it so happened, he showed up before we went into the cafeteria, and he saw us waiting to go in and accompanied us semi-illegally (he didn't pay) into lunch even though he was not eating. AWKWARD! The devotional was also little awkward because he rested his hand on the edge of my chair so I had to sit on the opposite edge of my seat the whole time. (Gross I am not a touch-y feel-y type person in any circumstance.)

After that, he walked with us as we headed to my class (which was on Jane's way to her apartment). During the course of our conversation, he managed to secure an invitation to join us for a game night with friends. Thankfully, he backed out of that. I quickly assured him I was busy the entire day Saturday. When he suggested that we just meet somewhere public (just the two of us) that night so we could talk, I managed to weasel out of it by suggesting that several friends were concerned about this situation and refused to let me see him. At this point, my friends really were freaking so I was entirely honest. One of Jane's friends had actually meet Collin before on the city bus. She informed me that he had a nine-year old daughter. (I had some serious red flags going up at that)

That Saturday, he tried to convince me that I could trust him via text. That was not so effective on his part. He kept telling me he was just trying to do what his stake president wanted him to do. (What kind of person lets someone else dictate all of their actions?) He also told me I should not show my texts to other people and I should stop letting other people get involved. Anyway, I was not really having any of it, but I was too polite to just quash his hopes and dreams via text. I continued to text him and to hear random references to marriage and this was quite disturbing to me so I determined that I would see him on Monday and explain I was not looking for a serious relationship.

Monday I tentatively, met him in the Institute lounge again. After some uncomfortable moments, (he dared to touch me at one point, sure it was just my ankles, but he touched me!) I told him that I was not looking for a serious relationship. What does the dolt (yes that is a fair description) do at this point? A normal person probably starts to back pedal and save some face. A normal person might seem disappointed and say something about respecting my wishes. But Mr. Colin McVey did none of these things! I still cannot believe the nerve of that man! He looked me in the eye and said "I am not looking to marry you YET, I want to get to know you better first." He did this quite calmly. I was enraged! Because we were in the Institute building I did not yell at him, but I firmly informed him I would not ever be marrying him, and then I left.

Somehow this was not clear enough for him and I continued to receive texts from him. Now I am very careful whenever I take the bus because he always seems to be lurking nearby. I only take comfort in the fact that he probably cannot see me.

There, the entire story is out now. At least that had better be the entire story regarding Collin. As this was the entirety of my "dating" experience from my first year of college, I believe I am entitled to be put off of the whole dating/marrying thing. Now it is nearly 3:00 am so I had better head of to bed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Institute: the place that religion classes are offered to college students by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church)**

**Devotional: a religious meeting with a musical number and a speaker that last about an hour**

**Stake President: The leader of the Stake**

**Stake: a collection of wards (usually approximately 8 wards)**

**(By the way, this chapter is actually straight from my life with no exaggeration, I pretty much just changed names from a few of my journal entries. This is what inspired me to write this story!)**


	5. Chapter 5: May 22

May 22, 2013

Life has been interesting enough. Aunty Helen decided to visit Jane and me today. She brought Kitty and Lydia with her of course. Technically, Jane isn't related to these three most interesting individuals, but in small town Idaho, this never meant much. Aunty Helen considers her fair game for any relative type stuff. Aunty insisted that she bring her daughters and come see our new place. I wish it had been Jane's mom, my aunt Sara instead, but it was my luck to spend the day with this trio of relatives. Lucky for me I had work this evening so I could not spend literally all day with them.

Shortly after They walked in Samantha mentioned something about the party we were having on Friday. This was something my aunt latched onto immediately. My aunty loves parties! I mean seriously LOVES them. She immediately told Kitty and Lydia that they had to help us get ready for the party I knew this meant trouble so I tried to circumvent the problem by reminding Aunty that she would not even be in Logan for the party. She responded by saying (and I quote) "Nonsense, dearie, I will just get a hotel room and your cousins can stay and visit you longer. I just know we can make your party the best of the summer."

I knew I had no hope of prevailing. It seemed I was doomed to have cousins who invited themselves over and too my party as well. Grrrrrrr! Oh well, such is life. I can't believe that nothing like this happened till now. I am glad that at least I have Jane and Charlotte to support me.

You see after the incident of self-invitation, my aunty insisted that she take us shopping for the party. She wouldn't take us to get anything practical like paper plates. She wanted us to get new outfits though. Even she knows that she couldn't do a lot of real clothes shopping in Logan. So we trekked an hour over to Layton to do our shopping there. Luckily, she insisted that she would pay for us. Well I rarely say no to free clothes, so I went along with the scheme. (At least, at first) Then she decided that I had to try on the most ridiculous sequin covered dress. I tried to tell her we were having a casual party. But, it appears, she does not understand the concept of casual. Not that I expected otherwise.

I finally got her convinced that I did not need a prom dress, but I ended up with a nice, new pair of jeans. I also picked out a fantastic new blouse that I can even wear to work. She also insisted that I get a pair of heals to go with this ensemble. This was fine by me, but my aunty is still crazy in my opinion. Jane was also treated with such care and received a cute outfit. It seems though my aunty decide that she had to give the two of us an advantage over any other girls at the party especially Charlotte.

I knew her generosity was a little bit too good to be true. My match-making relatives drive me crazy! I wish I could live out my life in peace. But that would be a bit too much to hope for I think. It seemed my aunt also took it upon herself to invite everyone in the entire neighborhood. I think she would even go so far as to rent out a place to have the party if she had more time to prepare.

I hope my reputation survives my relatives. I am a little afraid that Kitty and Lydia will end up staying here the entire summer. My goodness, that would be awful.


	6. Chapter 6: May 23

May 23, 2013

It's Thursday, my least favorite day of the week. It has almost always been a "least favorite"

_Mini Life History Lesson_

In elementary school, each week school was released early for one day. This day was, of course, Thursday. I loved Thursdays throughout 1st grade. Who wouldn't love having more play time? By the time I was in 2nd grade, I was over the whole early out thing. Being released at 1 instead of 3 doesn't mean a whole lot of extra time. On top of that, Mother decide that Thursdays would be cousin days (Great concept, poor choice of … well, family I suppose.) Jane was in 3rd grade when I was in 2nd, so we were good friends immediately, especially because Jane is so sweet and friendly. The situation was complicated by the addition of Kitty and Lydia. They are the same age as Mary. That meant that Jane and I had three five-year-olds to "play" with. Lydia and Kitty have always been a little whiney and spoiled, and Mary was always very serious and studious. This led to some … great (eye-roll) times.

But I suppose that you are wondering about why I went on that little side note. My point is, today went as well as could be expected with the whole Thursday issue. After I finished work yesterday, I arrived home to Kitty and Lydia asleep in my bed so I ended up sleeping on the couch which is not a huge deal, but I woke up sore all over. Then today I walked down to the Drivers' License Division office. You see I have to have a Utah Driver's License to get residency. Basically, I walked close to six miles because I don't have a car so I can get my Driver's License. When I arrived, I was disappointed that they couldn't help me until I returned with 2 proofs of my address. So I turned around and walked back. This seems rather useless to me because I am not even going to have a real use for that little piece of plastic.

I am a bit grumpy about this whole thing. It seems that I am destined to be a walker. I walk nearly three miles every day. I suppose I could take the city bus, but it takes so long to reach my destination that way.

I am to tired to right anymore, but tomorrow should be interesting because it is the party! I probably won't write again til Saturday because I am going to be cleaning up the party until pretty late.


End file.
